After being down 9 to 3, AJ Jersey charged back and won the game in the home half of the 8th inning. Mark Marotta led the charge for the victors with a 5 for 5 day including 2 home runs and 3 RBI. Leo White also collected 5 hits and 2 RBI while Pat Keenoy had 4 hits and 2 RBI. Mike Rosenberg had 3 hits and 2 RBI and Jordan Scher had 3 hits including a triple. Dave Ciarrocca made several great plays at short and Howard Greco had a clutch catch at the plate to nail the runner attempting to score. For Rosie’s, Steve Falco had 3 hits, Pete Osborn, Rich Conklin and Joe Hrubash had 2 hits apiece. Paul Newton and Bill Moore each had 2 RBI.
AJ takes the series 2 games to 0.

Top Line Appliance 15, Contact Lens & Vision 14
In a thriller that had Top Line plating 5 runs in the 6th to go ahead by 6, CLV scored 7 times in the top of the 7th to take the lead. But The Top Liners came back in the bottom of the frame when Whitey McCormack singled in 2 runs to earn the win. For the victors, who banged out 25 hits, winning pitcher Bob Greco had 4 hits while Greg Hartnett and Duck Ball each had 3. Big hits from Joe Cittadino, Tom DeRocco and Rory Caldwell spurred on the offense. The Lensmen were led by Solo Meola, Pete Byer and Slope Rzewuski with 3 hits each. Brian Latham and Bob Beiner also contributed with 2 clutch hits apiece.

This best of 3 games series is tied at 1 game each.

Contact Lens & Vision 16, Top Line Appliance 15
In a seesaw battle that went down to the final out, CL&V prevailed. The Lensmen were led by Kerry Gelb with a perfect 4 for 4 night including 2 long homers and a triple. Also contributing were Bob Beiner, 3 for 3 with a triple and Anthony Miccio and Brian Latham who each homered. Miccio also shook off some early wildness and pitched a gem. The Top Liners were led by Ron Kulik, Duck Ball and Whitey McCormack each with 3 hits. Joe Cittadino, Greg Hartnett and Joe Viso added 2 hits each. Don Montefusco dislocated his shoulder in first inning but is doing fine.

Contact Lens & Vision takes the series 2 games to 1.

Linwood Inn 7, Liberty Lighting Group 3

Linwood was sparked by Mike DiRienzo going 3 for 3, while Jack Helfrich, Steve Lerner and Jim Sydlo added 2 hits each. With the Barmen leading 4 to 3 in the bottom of the 6th frame, Mac Kowaleski drove in 2 runs with a clutch single to increase the lead. For LLG, Denis Vuono had 3 hits while Don Miller, Dan Nigro and Dave McFall contributed 2 hits apiece.

Linwood takes the series 2 games to 0.

Linda’s Driftwood Bar #2 8, DeBellis Associates 7

After the victors jumped out to a 5 run lead, DeBellis charged back only to have the game end with a great Willie Schumate throw from right center forcing the runner at second base.

Linda’s takes the series 2 games to 0.

Cranford VFW 13, AJ Jersey 2

Cranford scored 4 runs in the first inning and never looked back. For The VFW, Billy Hinkle and Bob Ghiretti went 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI each. Frank Verducci, Mark McGlynn and Phil McGovern were all 2 for 3 for the victors.
Cranford VFW leads the semifinal series 1 game to 0.

Awnings Galore 6, Linda’s Driftwood Bar #2 3

Awnings hitters were led by Frank D’Antico, Randy Tarnofsky and Neil Granstrand, each 3 for 3 with 1 RBI. Pat LoPiccolo pitched a great game for the Barmen.
Awnings leads the semifinal series 1 game to 0.

Cranford VFW 16, AJ Jersey 10

In a very exciting game, The VFW came from behind in the late innings to tie the score at the end of regulation. Cranford scored 6 times in the 8th to earn the victory. For The VFW, Carl Gamba (3 RBI, Pat Ahern (2 RBI) and Bob Ghiretti were all 4 for 5. Also for Cranford, Phil McGovern was 3 for 4 and Frank Verducci went 2 for 4 (4 RBI). For AJ, Paul Scheuermann had 4 hits and David Rizzo had 3 hits.
Cranford VFW takes the semifinal series 2-0.

Deegan Roofing 11, Linwood Inn 7

Deegan survived a 7 run 2nd inning by Linwood to hold on to an opening game semifinal playoff victory. Joe Massimino, John Garced and Marty Marks all contributed 3 hits apiece for Deegan. Pitcher Gary Pence hurled six shutout innings in the victory. For The Taproom, Mac Kowaleski was 4 for 4, Mike DiRienzo, Joseph Adase and Brian Schaefer added a pair of hits each.

Deegan Roofing leads the semifinal series 1 game to 0.

Linda’s Driftwood Bar #2 6, Awnings Galore 5

Winning pitcher Pat LoPiccolo not only pitched a great game, he fielded his position well and contributed 2 hits to Linda’s offense. Mike Kovach led the Awnings counterattack with a 3 for 3 night and 2 RBIs while Dave Kirsch was also 3 for 3.
The semifinal series is tied 1 game each.

In a blowout from start to finish, The Office walloped Creative Too 16-0 behind winning pitcher Ken Dunbar. Every Office player had at least 1 hit. This was Dunbar’s first shutout since 2011 when he pitched two within 3 weeks. The Office scored 6 in the 1st and 5 in the 2nd to put the game away. Leading Office hitters were Gary Schaller (3H, 2BH, HR, 3R, 3RBI), Chip Weiss (3BH, 2R, 2RBI), Brian McDermott (2H, 3BH, R, RBI), Mike Volpe (2R HR), Tom Rutkowski (3BH, R) and Jim D’Arcy (2BH, R, RBI). For Creative, it was a flat game against a hot team.

The Office 7, Creative Industries Too 0

The Office wins the second B Division semifinal game to advance to the B finals vs. Robin’s Nest.

Creative Industries 14, Awnings Galore II 9

Creative defeated Awnings Galore II in Game 1 of the best of 3 A Division championship series at Tremley Field. For Creative, their offense was led by Al Betau (3H), Brian Williams (3H, 3RBI), winning pitcher Tom Lombardi (2H, 2 2BH, 2RBI, 2R), Geoff Polston (2H, 2BH, 2RBI,) Frank DeLuca (2H) and Dennis Mosier (2H, 2R). Sloppy Awnings defense caused them to drop behind 6-0 early and never catch up. AGII left the bases loaded in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings. Leading hitters for AGII were Tom Colandro with 3 hits, and 2 hits by Gary Cuttler, Bobby Lorincz, Danny Mendoza, Tom Pasko, Wally Dusko and Pete Osborn. The teams have played 8 games to date with each team winning 4.

Creative Industries 16, Awnings Galore II 6

Regular Season second place Creative completed a 4 game sweep of Kilkenny House and Awnings Galore II to win the A Division Playoffs. Player-manager Tom Lombardi had his men ready and they took advantage of all opportunities. A banged up AGII club went down but not without a fight. Bobby Lorincz and Rich Polonitza were each 3 for 3, and Gary Cutler and Jeff Elkin each had 2 hits for a lackluster AGII offense that had 4 extra base hits but was unable to bunch their hits until they rallied late with 4 runs in the 6th inning.